GABF
2018 Great American Beer Fest: Standouts and Recap from Day One
September 21, 2018 | Tristan Chan
The 37th Annual Great American Beer Festival has finally arrived and for longtime attendee’s this year’s fest likely has a different feel. Throughout the festival’s storied history and ascension to become the country’s largest beer festival, it has evolved and adapted the country’s changing landscape and this year was no different.
Event Preview | Wynkoop Brewing 30th Anniversary Party
September 20, 2018 | Tristan Chan
Don’t call it a comeback, they’ve been here for years. Wynkoop Brewing, the Denver’s OG craft brewery, will celebrate their 30th anniversary tomorrow with an 80’s throwback celebration.
Started in 1988 by now Governor, John Hickenlooper, along with Jerry Williams, Mark Shifler and Russell Scherer, Wynkoop Brewing was not only a pioneer for Denver’s beer industry, but it also helped kickstart the Lower Downtown neighborhood. Before the Rockies made LoDo their home, and before all of the high rises and businesses were drawn to the urban center, the neighborhood was much rougher around the edges. But it was that affordable real estate, and foresight that attracted the Wynkoop team to set up roots at the heart of Denver.
2018 GABF Route Guide | Session Beers
September 20, 2018 | Tristan Chan
For the past month and a half our staff has been reaching out to every brewery attending the Great American Beer Festival to try to preview what they’ll be bringing to the fest. As part of that research, we’ve sifted through that list of beers to bring you a series of themed routes to help you plan for your GABF based on various styles and flavors.
2018 GABF Route Guide | Hoppy Beers Route
September 19, 2018 | Tristan Chan
For the past month and a half our staff has been reaching out to every brewery attending the Great American Beer Festival to try to preview what they’ll be bringing to the fest. As part of that research, we’ve sifted through that list of beers to bring you a series of themed routes to help you plan for your GABF based on various styles and flavors.
2018 GABF Route Guide | Funk, Sours & Wilds Route
September 19, 2018 | Tristan Chan 2
For the past month and a half, our staff has been reaching out to every brewery attending the Great American Beer Festival to try to preview what they’ll be bringing to the fest. As part of that research, we’ve sifted through that list of beers to bring you a series of themed routes to help you plan for your GABF based on various styles and flavors.
2018 GABF Route Preview | Big Beers Route
September 18, 2018 | Tristan Chan
For the past month and a half our staff has been reaching out to every brewery attending the Great American Beer Festival to try to preview what they’ll be bringing to the fest. As part of that research, we’ve sifted through that list of beers to bring you a series of themed routes to help you plan for your GABF based on various styles and flavors.
2018 Great American Beer Festival Pour List Preview
September 17, 2018 | Tristan Chan
As the 2018 Great American Beer Festival approaches, I bet you’re wondering what kind of delights you can expect to sample on the festival. A hazy IPA from that Vermont brewery that doesn’t distribute in your state? A rare whale stout aged in the most fantastic of barrels? A wild, enamel-stripping sour ale full of hand-picked snozzberries? PorchDrinking has you covered!
Guide to Out-of-State Breweries Available in Denver for GABF
September 14, 2018 | Tristan Chan
As we’ve all come to know, the Great American Beer Festival has far greater implications for Colorado beer fans that extend beyond the four-day festival itself. One of those external benefits is the growing practice of out-of-state breweries utilizing the week to make a special limited drop of beers either as a means to test the market, or just to make a splash to help grow their brands. In previous years, breweries such as Fremont, Perennial and Burial have all used GABF week as a launch pad toward regular, or in some cases semi-regular distribution to Colorado. In other scenarios such the short-lived Bell’s Brewing’s drop a few years back, these brief market flirtations can help stoke the hype for breweries that may eye a future full-time distribution play, which in Bell’s case finally came to fruition this year.
WeldWerks Announces GABF Releases to Exceed 100 New Beers in 2018
September 14, 2018 | Tristan Chan
In today’s landscape of experimentation and variety, it’s not uncommon for a brewery to diversify their portfolio with an ever-rotating lineup of new beers. However for a brewery that’s less than four years old, to be able to pull off over 100 new beer releases in less than a year, is an almost unfathomable feat.
Freshcraft’s GABF Week Schedule of Events
September 13, 2018 | Tristan Chan
This is a sponsored post from Freshcraft
Over the past eight years, Freshcraft has emerged as one of the premiere craft beer-focused bars/restaurants in the city of Denver. Located just … Read More
A Look Into the Judging of GABF Beers
September 13, 2018 | Holly Gerard
Have you ever wondered what it takes for breweries to win medals at Great American Beer Festival? You might say “Easy, make great beer.” That is technically correct, but as it turns out, it takes a ton of behind the scenes organization, planning and coordination to judge all of those great beers that get entered.
The Complete 2018 GABF Week Events Guide
September 4, 2018 | Tristan Chan
For one week a year, Denver and the surrounding metro area turn upside down for the Great American Beer Festival. While the festival floor is a great place to sample thousands of beers from all across, the events happening outside of the festival have become equally as impressive and formidable. From tap take-overs to beer dinners, special release to actual full-blown separate beer festivals all together have broken off of GABF. So, to help provide some perspective and frothy guidance, we have made that navigation a bit easier with a 2018 GABF Week Events Guide. Too much to sort through and choose? Don’t worry, chuggernaut, we got you covered.
2018 GABF Week Events Guide
Something we missed? Is your brewery hosting a GABF event? Feel free to contact us and we’ll update this list.
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Breaking Down the Newcomers & Breweries Missing from 2018 GABF
August 17, 2018 | Tristan Chan
Each year one of the most exciting aspects of the Great American Beer Festival is the ability to explore and sample some of the country’s best new breweries that have emerged on the scene. Additionally, it can be equally as rewarding to revisit some familiar faces you may only get to try once each year at the country’s largest beer showcase. However, with the evolving landscape of craft beer, and varying priorities, we also tend to lose some familiar friends. As we’ve done each year, we’ve broken down the new / returning breweries as well as those who sadly aren’t coming back for this year’s Great American Beer Festival.
BREAKING | 2018 Great American Beer Festival Brewery List Announced
August 16, 2018 | Tristan Chan
Over 800 Breweries. 4 Sessions. 3 Days. More than 4000 beers. 60,000 attendees. Spanning over 584,000 square feet (a 17% increase). This year’s Great American Beer Festival is back and primed for its 37th Anniversary. The field has finally been set, and we now know which breweries will be part of the world’s largest beer festival. It is time once again to begin planning your routes. Which breweries are your can’t miss? And which are your must tries?
Be sure to check back often as we’ll be bringing complete GABF coverage leading up to, during and after the festival.
As we do each year, we will also be breaking down the list breweries to showcase the newcomers who are joining the fest for the first time, as well as those breweries who are notably missing. Read More
Two Iconic GABF Week Events Won’t Be Returning This Year
August 10, 2018 | Tristan Chan
As the Great American Beer Festival continues to grow in size, and popularity throughout the years, so has the week surrounding it. For those familiar to the country’s largest beer festival, often times the external events happening outside of the festival have drawn equal, if not greater interest, due to the quality of breweries lined up, and/or the unique approaches taken by organizers.
2018 Denver Rare Beer Tasting Announces Initial Brewery List, Tickets On-Sale Sunday
June 15, 2018 | Tristan Chan
As we’ve articulated a few times, GABF week’s multitude of events have lately grown to the point of overshadowing the event itself. And while many of these periphery activities … Read More
2018 GABF Tickets On Sale Dates Announced
June 13, 2018 | Tristan Chan
Mark your calendars folks! Tickets for the 2018 Great American Beer Festival will go on sale to AHA Members on July 31 and to the general public on August 1. As … Read More
Event Recap | 2017 What the Funk!? Invitational
October 25, 2017 | Jasmin Hudacsek
From unicorn tears to blue cheese sours, the 2017 What the Funk!? Invitational brought another year of sensationally wild and funk barrel-aged beers–this year at the gorgeous Studios at Overland Crossing in Denver.
Avery Brewing Time-Lapse of GABF Booth Setup
October 18, 2017 | Tristan Chan
For the past three years, Avery Brewing has taken GABF booth displays to the next level. Not only does their’s booth look and feel like you’re in a barrel-aging facility, but the Avery team carts in and stacks filled barrels for timed releases, where attendants actually pull nails in order to pour beer straight from the source.
Event Recap | Beers Made By Walking 2017
October 18, 2017 | Cecelia Kathleen
For the last six years, Beers Made By Walking has offered beer drinkers in a select few cities an opportunity to explore a collection of one-off beers inspired by local nature and urban walks. This program began back in 2011 and over time has worked with 150 different breweries across six states.
This year, Beers Made By Walking hosted its annual Denver event at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, who was also the beneficiary of the proceeds from the event. Essentially, attendees got to feel like they were Ben Stiller in his Night at the Museum movies but with the added bonus of 33 breweries also hanging out for the evening.
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